Santner repaying Mumbai Indians’ faith in him, says Varun Aaron after spinner’s measly spell seals Mumbai’s place in the playoffs.
Santner repaying the faith and showing his worth in Mumbai Indians colours.
Eleven runs for three wickets. a 2.75 economy. 16 dot balls in all. Mitchell Santner made these comebacks for the Mumbai Indians (MI) against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in match 63 of their 2025 IPL campaign.
In another outstanding display by the left-arm spinner this season, who now has an economy of 7.60, it was also the most economical figures by a spinner at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL history.
In the post-match session on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show, Varun Aaron and Tom Moody couldn’t help but give Santner kudos after his spell put DC in a chokehold.
“The moment Will Jacks bowled, I was thinking if Will Jacks is going to turn the ball this much, Santner is just going to run rigs around the batsman,” Aaron said. “Santner is a quality bowler, just one of those underutilised bowlers, underutilised players at CSK, never really got a long run, but he’s just showing what he’s worth the moment he stepped into Mumbai Indians’ colours.”
After dismissing DC’s top two scorers of the evening, Sameer Rizvi and Vipraj Nigam, Santner removed Ashutosh Sharma with a stunning delivery that stumped him. According to Moody, Santner’s risk was not limited to the unusually sluggish Wankhede surface. His sometimes-subtle modifications also had a significant impact.
“And the beauty of Santner is that, on a surface like that, it’s not so much the turn is the threat, it’s the pitch being slow and his ability to change the arrival of the ball at different paces without the knowledge of the batsman. That’s what makes him lethal, his subtle change of pace without any real sign or cue for the batter is his key,” Moody said. “It’s not like he’s spun the odd one, but let’s face it, Mitchell is not a big turner of the ball, he’s never been a big turner of the ball, that’s why he’s never really grabbed hold of a Test cricket and run with it.
“Yes, he had a good series here recently when New Zealand beat India in a three-Test-match series. But his real skill is that sort of change of pace and when you’ve got a slow surface, that’s a batting nightmare.”
Aaron also pointed to Santner’s physical attributes that add another layer of deception: “his height and his angles, he really uses the crease well. Generally, when batsmen subconsciously see a tall bowler, they just think he’s going to fire every ball in. But he actually, like Tom says, uses his pace so well.”